1. Field
The present invention relates generally to chemical reformers and more particularly to thermally driven reformers used for the production of hydrogen, and more particularly to hydrogen reformers fuelled by gaseous or liquid hydrocarbon fuels, organic fuels, and hydrogen containing compounds such as ammonia. The hydrogen generated in the reformer can be purified or not and can be used for integration with fuel cell systems and/or hydrogen refueling stations.
2. Background Art
The thermal reforming method uses a thermal energy reactor to decompose fuel into hydrogen and other compounds. This decomposition is typically done in the presence of a catalyst but does not have to include catalysts. Hydrocarbon and organic fuels are typically decomposed in the presence of water and typically produce hydrogen, carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide. Thermal cracking-type reformers typically do not use water, and therefore, also produce solid carbon or nitrogen if ammonia is utilized as the fuel. The most typical thermal reformer used in industry is a steam reformer type reactor, but other reactors can also include oxygen, which are known as auto thermal reformers and partial oxidation reformers. These reformers can be integrated with pre and post reactors such as steam generation and water gas shift reactors to create a fuel processing system.
In applications such as fuel cell systems and hydrogen refueling stations the efficiency of the hydrogen generation equipment can be critical to overall system economics when the energy value of hydrogen is converted into electricity. Similarly, reformers that are more compact with smaller foot prints and packaging flexibility are needed to reduce equipment cost and enhance the cost effectiveness of integrated system. In addition, fuel cell and hydrogen refueling applications are not homogeneous in capacity, some applications requiring only a few kilowatts and some requiring several hundred kilowatts. As a result, a reformer engineered for 25 kW applications must be completely re-engineered for a 2 kW or a 100 kW application. What the market needs are reformers with greater efficiency, enhanced compactness, and improved modularity.